Heat
by NPD18
Summary: It's a normal day at County General when something awful happens, sending the entire team into danger. Alternate world. Summary sounds crap, but hey I'm bad at them... please R&R! [Bits of Samka & Carcy]
1. Just an average day until

**Heat**

**A/N:** Okay, it's a lame title, I know, and if anyone could think of a better one, I'd appreciate it. I don't know where the idea for this fic came from… it just came. I am into writing ER fics at the moment, and everyone knows pain is my specialist subject, so no surprises there :P

_Things you should know before reading: _Set in Season 11, but like an alternate world. Basically, Lucy is still alive (and she's now a last year resident! woot!). Elizabeth has left, as she has in the show, and Neela, Ray and Morris never came. Sam did though (of course!). Other than that… it's pretty much the same, but with some of my own added in characters of course! Hopefully this isn't too far-fetched and fast moving! Sorry if it is…

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, not a sausage. Except of course any characters you don't recognize.

-

"Carter? Susan needs you in Trauma two!" Sam yelled, making her way over there, slinging her stethoscope loosely around her neck.

"The RTC?"

She nodded. Following, Carter pushed through the doors and into the Trauma room where Luka was frantically trying to resuscitate a little girl, whilst Susan fitted a tube down the mother, her husband watching close by, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Can someone please get him out of here?"

Nodding towards Susan, Lydia showed the man, who was begging her to let him stay, towards the family room. Within moments, she was back in the room. Meanwhile, Luka was frantically pounding on the 6 year old's chest.

"She's got a rhythm" Sam acknowledged,

Carter left his patient for a moment to talk to Luka, "Hey Luka, got any spare clamps? Susan's goin' in,"

Luka gestured towards a tray of which there were two sets of clamps. As quickly as possible, Carter took the clamps and headed back towards Susan, whom he handed them to. Mrs. Janney was bleeding internally from where the end of a pair of scissors had punctured her chest.

"What on earth was she doing with scissors in a car?" Carter wondered, observing Susan's work.

Susan groaned, beginning to sew the puncture, "She was cutting out something for her daughter," She turned to Carter, "Could you call Dubenko please? Tell him it's urgent,"

Next door, Liliana Janney was stable, and ready to be moved. Happy with the situation, and with the orders he'd given Sam, Luka discarded his gloves, before pushing open the swing doors and exiting Trauma Two.

-

"You stupid girl, whatcha think you're doin' to me?" The patient sucked his teeth at Lucy.

She sighed, taking her hand away from the mark on the man's arm, "Mr. Truman, I'm only trying to help. Now if you could tell me where you got that bruise…"

"I don't have to tell you nuttin!"

Dr. Knight rolled her eyes, picking up the man's charts. How he expected her to treat him when he wouldn't even let her touch him, she did not know. Not like he'd been forced to come and wait for 4 hours in the waiting room.

"Fine then, in that case I'll get your medication and you're free to be discharged,"

He shook his head, "Well it's about time!"

Dropping her gloves into the trash, Lucy slipped a strand of hair back behind her ear, and strolled toward the board. She rubbed off Mr. Truman's name, and grabbed him a discharge form, before turning to Lydia and Chuny who were busy gossiping.

"Chuny, have you got time to go the meds cupboard for me?"

Chuny shrugged, "Why not? It's my job after all,"

Lucy was just about to explain which medication she needed the nurse to get her, when she was interrupted by Abby, Pratt and a couple of new interns running from the family room, screaming and shouting. There was no time for her to ask what was up, as she soon found out when she saw the huge clouds of smoke following them. _No smoke without fire, _Lucy heard Dubenko's words come to her head.

"EVERYONE RUN, THERE'S GOING TO BE AN…" Abby was stopped by a huge ground-shaking bang as bits of door flew everywhere, and the air filled with people's screams and coughing.

-

Sam clutched at Luka's hand as he lay motionless on the floor in Trauma 1, his face slightly blackened by the blast. Silent tears rolled off of her cheeks, as she coughed and spluttered through the clouds of black smoke filling the room. Though the swing doors were quite thick, a gust of wind could easily blow them apart enough for the flames to seep though and out into the corridor.

"Luka?" She found herself in such a position that she could not move from his side, her leg wedged firmly under the trolley of supplies which she had been stood at when the explosion started in the room next door.

"Oh god, Luka, please…"

She'd been sorting through the trolley, finding something (she honestly couldn't remember what) which Susan needed for the RTC passenger when Luka had come in, wrapping his arms round her. Even as she swatted him away, he continued to kiss the back of her head, and then… well she couldn't remember exactly, except for a huge army of flames quickly slipping their way across the room. It would not be long before they would be hungrily licking over Luka and Sam.

"Sam?"

Luka's eyes fluttered open, as he saw Sam's blurry figure leant over him. He looked around the room, dazed, and saw that they were alone except from large pieces of debris blocking the door. He managed a sigh before letting out a string of coughing.

"Are you okay?" She lifted her head from his chest, a look of relief in her eyes.

"Ummm,"

Sam nodded, feeling the tears prick her eyes again. The curtain of smoke surrounded them now, causing each other to be the only thing visible in the room. She guessed the fire had probably spread across to Trauma 1 if it hadn't before, and it seemed only a matter of time before they were either rescued or knocked unconscious.

-

"The source of the explosion has not yet been identified, but reports are saying that it is mostly just one area of the Emergency Room which is damaged, and they are currently bringing out many patients and staff who are completely un-touched by the fire and just in shock. Rumour is that the fire could have been the result of an argument between one of the doctor's and their patient. When we get more news, you will be first to know. This is Heather Charlton, reporting from County General Hospital, Chicago,"

It was a lot to take in, at least 30 reporters and their vans parked all across the outside of the hospital, and the entire staff and patients, or at least as many people as they could evacuate from the building, were filling the car lot, making their way out of the danger area. The windows were blacked out by huge clouds of smoke, and it was uncertain exactly how many people were trapped inside.

"Where's Susan?" Chuck Brown asked one of the nurses, a panicked look on his face, "Where's my wife?"

"I don't know, I really wish I did," Haleh sighed, just stopping herself from breaking down.

There was nothing anyone could do, except wait for the fire-fighters to make their way through the hospital and find the remaining staff, and no-one knew how long that could take. The explosion was a reasonably large one, and if anyone had been in the same room, it was very unlikely they would be alive even if the fire-fighters did find them. Nobody knew what had started it, and nobody even knew where it had started.

To Be Continued…


	2. Do you like pain?

**Heat**

**A/N:** Oh my gosh, thanks for all the reviews you guys have given me, it's so awesome to open my email inbox and be greeted by that many reviews! Ummm… to answer some questions, firstly, I am not going to tell you who will survive etc. just yet, simply because that would ruin the plot, but I hope it's clear that I am one of those 'few' Susan fans… Anyone who knows me on MSN will know that I am having like a lot of trouble deciding who exactly dies, so the fact that you don't know… that's simply because even I don't! Once again, thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! The parts in italics are flashbacks, in case you wondered or were confused!

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, not a sausage. Except of course any characters you don't recognize.

**Thanks to: **Amy because she helped me with a lot of the ideas for this chapter, including who I wanted to die and how etc

-

"I'm afraid it's unlikely that my men are going to be able to get in there and to the area where the fire is inside this hour, it's not safe yet," Jed Carlson reasoned with Dr. Weaver who had just arrived, "But as soon as we can, we will,"

Kerry nodded, "I am completely aware of the situation you are in. Just keep me updated, okay?"

At least half an hour had passed since the fire had first been reported, and the crowd of people outside had since doubled. It seemed the whole of Chicago was interested in the blazing hospital, or rather the huge television crews stationed outside, the cameras rolling non-stop. It wasn't just passer-bys who were filling the car lot and area just outside of the hospital though. Sitting in the back of an ambulance, a towel wrapped around his shoulders, Dubenko took a shaky sip of coffee.

"I'd been on my way up there; in fact I was in the lift when the blast first occurred I think, therefore I had no idea what was going on. Of course I heard the screaming when I reached the floor, stepping out into what looked like a war zone. Whatever it was that went up, it wasn't small. We're talking debris up to the knees at least. And, well you've seen the smoke, it's so thick up there, you'd be lucky to see one hand in front of your face by now I should think. I wanted to stay up there and help but I honestly think I wouldn't have been much aid.

"So I made my way down the stairs, as quickly as I could. I figured that way I could at least tell some people what's happening in there. That's when I tripped," Dubenko continued to explain to the paramedic who was carefully examining his head, "I don't know who was up there; I didn't really stop to look. I only had one thing on my mind and that was to get out of the hospital quickly and without causing any more accidents. I was careful not to knock anything over, and I followed all the other people running and screaming their way down the stairs,"

The paramedic nodded, lifting a patch of Dubenko's curly hair up to take a look at a large bump forming on his head, "I think I found where you fell. It doesn't seem to be too much of a problem, but you've got a large area of bruising. I'd stay still just to be certain,"

-

_**From Pratt's POV**_

_If I've learnt anything from my time in this hospital it's that if you want a job done, you pretty much have to do it yourself. And with this in my head, I made my way over to the drug store cupboard, even though I'd asked Conni to get me the meds my patient needed. That had been an hour ago though, and the woman was waiting to leave. What can I say, she was hot, and I didn't want her to have to stay around much longer. So, I was just walking in, when I saw someone lean over and quickly grab up some supplies from inside one of the draws. Not unusual you may think, but it is when the person is wearing a grey hooded sweater and a baseball cap._

_Obviously, I couldn't let the guy run off with enough morphine to get himself high for at least a month, so when he saw me and ran, I followed after him. It was only then that I got caught up in the herd of staff running down the corridor screaming, and when one of them pointed to the smoke oozing out from the Family Room's door, I began to panic too, completely forgetting about the dude and the stolen morphine. _

-

"Can anyone hear me?" Abby choked out the words, lifting herself up just enough to see over the desk, before losing the strength once again and finding herself back on the floor.

Even from such a small glimpse, she could just about make out 4 people around the desk area. She could tell that the first was Frank, but she wasn't sure whether he was conscious or not. Other than that, she couldn't tell; the smoke was too thick to see through. County General was practically unrecognizable, especially from the angle she was now slumped over at.

"Anyone?"

Someone groaned but it was impossible to know where the sound had come from. Abby swallowed, one hand over her face, trying to keep the smoke away from it, "Where are you?"

No answer.

Abby rested a hand on the side of the desk, and scrambled for the top or something to hold onto. Her fingers wrapped around a long metal object, but as she applied weight on the desk, she found a large lamp hitting the ground a few centimetres away from her. Still coughing, she attempted to reach for the desk again, and finding herself able to cling to the desk, she pulled herself up to a standing position, though her whole body ached from doing so. Ignoring the pain, Abby pulled herself along the desk, trying to make out the shadows of people through the dark smoke covering them.

"Hello?" She pulled herself round so that she could easily get into the gap between desks, and steadied herself, still holding on to the edge of the table top.

"Abby,"

Turning herself towards where the sound had come from, Abby found herself looking down at who appeared to be Lucy Knight though she wasn't quite sure, "Lucy?"

"Please," She paused, a throaty cough interrupting her sentence, "Help me,"

Clearing a patch of debris with her foot so that she could kneel down, Abby rested a hand on Lucy's dusty arm, feeling her pulse. It was low. She looked around; trying to see what it was that had hit Lucy, since she was pretty sure that it wasn't just shock that had knocked her out. Sure enough, a pot of pens and other stationery lay on the floor next to her, just visible under all the dust and broken wood from where half of the desk had collapsed having been in the way of flying chunks of door. Most of the pot's contents were spread around Lucy, but it didn't look like any of it had hit her.

The air smelt of burning wood, which made sense since the fire had just started to spread to the line of gurneys and chairs opposite, and the larger chunks of door were still burning away. Burning gurneys meant burning patients, probably dead. Abby shook the thought from her head, thinking it best to concentrate on those she could help. Meaning Lucy for the time being.

"Did something hit you?"

Lucy groaned again, "I think… my back,"

Frowning, Abby carefully lifted her up and took a quick look underneath her. She forced herself to ignore the painful sounds Lucy was making, and the agony running through her own body having also been knocked to the ground earlier.

"Ouch…" Abby winced, gently easing Lucy back down again, "I think you have the end of a pen jammed between your ribs… I had no idea those things could be so sharp ended,"

Abby coughed again, holding a hand over her mouth and standing herself up from the small piece of ground she had crouched on. Lucy looked up at her with half open eyes, the pain and helplessness giving an almost creepy glare to them.

"I'm sorry… I can't do anything… we just need to get you out of here,"

There was no point in even trying the phones to alert people outside of where they were, the lines were sure to be singed and Abby knew she couldn't make it out of the corridor and over to a window. It looked like Lucy would have to wait until somebody came and found them.

-

Nobody had noticed him quickly rush out of the room, they'd all been too worried about the fire, which he was beginning to think was something he should have taken into account. That and the fact that he didn't know his way around County General at all. How was he to know that actually the route he was taking was going to lead him right to where the fire was? At least the fire had spread so where he was now was just as dangerous as any other area. That wasn't quite true though, being crouched behind a trolley thing, hiding from two people on the floor in front of him, with absolutely no idea whether there was any way of getting out of the room, out of the hospital, without being caught wasn't exactly a bike ride in the country.

But hey, he hadn't planned the fire; it was just a prime opportunity to do what he had been dying to do all week. He just had to pick his moment.

"Didn't know I was right in time for a dose of 'General Hospital' either," He mumbled, rolling his eyes at the couple holding hands as the fire pretty much surrounded them.

It surrounded him too, but he wasn't so bothered. There wasn't much left in the world for him to live for since his little brother had died and his parents had discarded him. Not that he had a death wish or anything. He was obsessed with death, other people's pain brought him joy, but it was different when he considered his own death.

He wondered if the two figures crying in each others' arms who he was hiding from had ever thought about dying. They obviously couldn't hide from death, it was pretty much inevitable that they would see it working in a hospital, but perhaps they'd never thought about what it would be like when they died.

"Did you hear something?" He could just make out what the man was saying.

The woman lifted her head for a moment, a stream of tears across her face, "I don't know,"

She was pretty. But beauty didn't bother him anymore, he'd found himself easily able to kill even the most amazing women once the 'itch' came to him. The itch to kill. Normal people didn't understand the 'itch'; most people didn't understand how anyone could kill. He wasn't most people.

"Fine, you caught me, you know what, I don't really care," He shrugged stepping out towards the flames so that they could see him.

He didn't even feel the fire burn him, he'd shut out any sense of pain long ago. Two pairs of eyes were now focused on him, a look of surprise in both. They were even more surprised when he pulled out the gun from behind him, the cold metal feeling so good in his hands.

"Well isn't this cosy, you, me and a nice seat beside the fire. We aint gonna be toasting any marshmallows tonight though dears, sorry,"

It was that look of innocence that he thrived on, that look of oh-my-god-he-has-a-gun was like a Big Mac in MacDonald's to him, but it was the blood against the floor, the soft sound of a bullet entering skin which he would dream about. That and of course the nine or ten packs of Morphine he had stored inside his bag.

"Don't do something you'll regret," The guy yelled his face fuzzy from the mixture of smoke and fire.

"Regret? I don't think so,"

To Be Continued…

**A/N**: I also want to thank Amy for the idea of the drug addict. Hopefully it wasn't too over the top. Please let me know what you think, I appreciate it.


	3. Moving forward

**Heat**

**A/N:** This chapter is going to be clearing up some of the problems and mistakes I'd made in earlier chapters. I say some, because a lot of them are yet to be unravelled, and they are purpose mistakes, and since I am not intending to go back and rewrite the last chapter, you're going to have to ignore the other mistakes. I am also going to be missing out a lot of the rest of the things that happen in the fire, so this chapter has moved on a bit since the last one. I don't know the layout of the hospital, so just pretend the family room is near Trauma 1 & 2 lol.

Thank you for all your amazing reviews (and not so amazing review, but I won't go on about that) and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, not a sausage. Except of course any characters you don't recognize.

**Thanks to: **Amy again, she's an angel when it comes to help as well as Beci and Eri for the kind words concerning the matter, and whoever else it was who replied to my LJ because I don't know your name lol sorry.

-

The icy wind blew against Kerry Weaver's already cold cheeks as she stood outside the hospital, watching the fire fighters carrying person after person out, and her staff trying to help them as best they could. The fire was reasonably near the entrance of County General Emergency Room, but the fire fighters wanted to be sure that the area was stable before entering since the flames had managed to find their way right the way across the main entrance doors, meaning a lot of people were still trapped inside. After just over half an hour the chief had decided it was as safe as it could be, and sent his fire fighters in. Kerry watched as one of the men came out carrying Abby Lockhart over his shoulder.

"I am fine… okay, as much as I'm enjoying this, please put me down," Abby waved her legs around gently, "There are people in there you need to carry out, I am not one of them,"

He put her gently on the ground, but she found herself wobbling around, and as much as she didn't like to admit it, she needed to sit down. Finding the nearest bench, she took a seat, closing her eyes, though it wasn't long before a paramedic was knelt in front of her, checking her over.

"It's just the shock, I'll be fine. My back hurts a little, but that's from…" She paused, feeling the need to cough again before continuing, "It's from when I fell I think,"

The woman nodded, taking her stethoscopes and checking Abby's pulse. It was only slightly above normal, which was expected from the stress she had just been under, "Okay you stay here, and if you feel any bad dizziness or…"

"I'm a doctor; I think I know what to do thanks,"

Abby rested her eyes again, leaning back into the uncomfortable bench. But the moment she shut off from everything, all she could see were the lines of fire that had been blocking the doorway and Lucy's face as she left her to go find help. All she could hear was that awful fire alarm. Her eyes jolted open, and she realized that it wasn't just a nightmare, and that she could still hear that fire alarm.

Her eyes scanned the area around her, taking in the distressed look on some of the people's faces, and the sight of paramedics trying to revive the less fortunate patients who were dying from the effects of the blast. As she took it all in, she found her eyes being drawn towards the entrance of the hospital, where a fireman came out carrying who looked like Frank's limp body across and over to a team of staff who were helping out in an ambulance.

"Excuse me, Kerry?"

Kerry turned toward Abby, though her attention was still aimed at the burning hospital, "Yes Doctor Lockhart?"

"Have they gotten…?" She was about to finish when a fire man came over, turning Kerry's attention away from Abby.

"We have a problem. There's a woman inside, and we think she has spinal injuries, but if we don't move her the flames are going to get her, or she'll inhale too much smoke. If we move her she'll be paralysed. We're not risking any of your staff going in there, it's far too dangerous. We're going to have to move her and hope for the best; we just thought we'd warn you since she's one of your staff,"

Kerry nodded, sighing, "Do you know who it is?"

The chief shook his head, and continued explaining the situation. Abby sunk deeper into her seat, suddenly realizing who he was probably talking about.

-

Carter tugged at the oxygen mask over his mouth, the paramedics trying to keep his arms down, and constantly telling him to relax, but he wouldn't rest – he needed to know. She'd been in there with him, right next door to the room it had supposedly happened in, and as far as he could see, though the paramedics were somewhat blocking his view, she wasn't anywhere outside. Being one of his oldest friends, he really hoped she was ok; it'd be awful if anything happened to her. Feeling another fit of coughing coming on, he decided to give in and let the paramedics do what they had to do. His eyes slowly closed.

-

For a moment he couldn't move, the sight of her lying their, eyes barely open, blood oozing from the wound in her stomach, past where her hand was over it, was too much for him to take in. His eyes jolted to Pratt's figure slumped up against the wall, blood dripping from a large cut on his head. Wincing, but not too badly hurt, Greg looked up, fixing eyes with Luka for a second, and then taking in the sight of Sam lying helplessly on the floor, both hands clutched over the stab wound.

"_Sam…_ _what the he…" It was like he'd come in on some episode of 'Criminal Drug Addicts R Us', it was so unreal._

_The man had the gun aimed directly at where Luka and Sam were sat on the floor, and it looked as though he was within seconds of pulling the trigger. Without thinking, Pratt launched himself at the guy, pulling the gun, but unable to yank it out of his hands. He never even noticed the man quickly firing the gun up in the air, and he certainly didn't realize nothing was coming out. The man had run out of bullets. Sam did not know this though, and since she'd managed to struggle free from the trolley, she was now stood watching the scene unfolding in front of her. All she saw was the trigger being pulled, and Greg Pratt falling backwards._

_Almost instantly, the man realized his gun was useless, and dumping it next to where Pratt had fallen, he pulled out something from his pocket. It happened so quick, the knife slicing through flesh, Sam falling as it came out of her, covered in blood, and then the man legging it as fast as he could. _

Luka pulled Sam up onto his lap, and planted a kiss on her forehead, tears running down his face. He clutched at her, seeing the life flowing away, "This isn't how it ends,"

"Luka…?" She managed to turn herself round just far enough that she could see his face, "I love you,"

"I love you too, always," He sobbed, burying his face in her soft, curly hair.

Pratt felt tears welling up in his eyes as he saw the once happy couple saying what seemed to be goodbye. He barely noticed the noise coming from admit, lost in his own thoughts and the commotion happening in the room. He barely noticed the flames licking at him. He barely noticed the lights go out as he fell back against the cold wall.

-

A/N: Please continue to review, you guys are so awesome! And I love constructive criticism, as long as it's not too OTT. Umm… the parts in italics are flashback again btw :D


	4. 28 Bodies

**Heat**

**A/N:** Moving even further on lol… umm this is a bit of a messed up chapter since El Muso wasn't exactly being my bestest friend. Hopefully, it makes sense though…

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, not a sausage. Except of course any characters you don't recognize.

-

His head rested in his arms, eyes closed, Chuck Martin leant onto the hospital bed, fast asleep in a chair. It wasn't like he didn't deserve a rest; he'd been up all night worrying, but he had insisted he'd be there when Susan woke up.

-

The next room over at St. Paul's was dead quiet except for the steady beeps from the machinery beside the bed and the sound of someone breathing heavily. John Carter slipped his hands over Lucy's, silent tears flooding his eyes all over again. He turned hearing the door open, and nodded at Abby as she stepped in, closing the door quietly behind her.

"I'm sorry…"

Carter's eyes rested back on Lucy's slightly burnt face, "You have nothing to say sorry for. It wasn't your fault,"

"Yes it was! I just took away her career, hell; I could have even taken away her life!"

Carter sighed, turning to look up at Abby's troubled face, "You don't know that,"

"I panicked, and forgot everything I'd ever learnt!" Her eyes were starting to sting, "I should never have moved her but I didn't think of that, and now it's too late,"

Taking one hand from over Lucy's, Carter put his arm round Abby as she sat down on the chair next to him. He didn't like to see her cry, and he was certain it wasn't her fault. How he was ever going to convince her, he wasn't sure. So much had happened that day, he just felt like going to bed, though he knew he had to be there for Lucy. He'd already been checked over, and everyone had decided he was okay now, though earlier the smoke had really got to him. Lucy had been unconscious since they got her out though, and that was almost an hour ago.

"We don't even know if she's going to wake up! You panicked, you tried to help her, and if it hadn't been you, it would have been someone else. The fire crew had to lift her to get her out anyway. Abby, for once this isn't about you, okay? We haven't even got the scans back yet. It's not going to do her an good if you sit here crying and feeling guilty, go get some rest," He tried hard not to raise his voice, for both Abby and Lucy's sakes.

"Fine, please tell me if she wakes up, or when her scans get back," Abby moved herself from under Carter's arm, and sniffed her way out of the door.

-

Sighing, Kerry Weaver took a look around the mess that was the outside of County General. Fire fighters had cleared the area, and now the fire was out, but the place was still a complete mess and it would take at least a week to sort out, meaning all patients had to be transferred to local hospitals. Spotting Jed Carlson, Kerry made her way over to him.

"What's the body count?"

Jed sighed, "28, not including any that have died at St. Paul's or the other hospitals moved to. 19 of those are patients, 2 members of staff and 7 unknowns from the source of the fire. The little kid and her mother in trauma would have died probably instantly,"

Kerry shook her head silently, "I'm gonna make my way over to St. Paul's, check on some of my staff, you call me if you need to,"

Nodding, Jed went back towards the building, letting Kerry go off to the hospital that was a few miles away where all the staff hurt in the fire had been taken. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a completely burnt body being pulled away from the hospital, the last of the unlucky few to be trapped in the Family Room. With nobody in there alive, it could take a while to discover exactly who had started the fire, though it was obviously not an accident.

"This one has ID," One of the fire crew said, pulling an almost unreadable card from round the body's neck, "Something 'Meads' maybe?"

Kerry turned, "Wendell, Wendell Meads,"

The social worker had been in there talking to the family of a little boy who looked as though he'd been beaten, and had probably not even realized what was happening until it was too late. Kerry sighed, continuing over to the car, still thinking about the 28 dead bodies that had been pulled from the building.

-

"Luka?" Two big brown eyes fluttered open, fixed on the man perched on the end of the bed, a worried look across his handsome face.

His eyes brightened, "Sam! How are you feeling?"

Sam attempted to raise an eyebrow, but found it too much of a struggle, and that it would need more energy than she had. This meant she couldn't move her body either, the pain was so much. She could hear the beeping machine above her head, and it was making her a little dizzy, either that or the weird feeling in her stomach, or both.

"I'm dying aren't I Luka?"

Luka shook his head, feeling his eyes begin to sting again, but this time not from smoke, "No way! Don't speak like that,"

"Luka, I can feel myself slipping, I just don't have the energy anymore," She felt him grip her hand.

"I won't let you, you're strong,"

It was her turn to cry, and she felt a tear fall extremely slowly down the side of her face, and then fall towards her mouth. She swallowed, but even that hurt.

"If you love me, you'll let me go,"

Not wanting to believe what he was hearing, he kissed Sam's hand which was firmly in his, and looked up, brushing her hair from around her face, "I can't… I won't,"

"It's going to happen, and I want it to. Luka, I'm gone. There's no point in pretending it's going to be okay, and that I'm going to be fine in a couple of days,"

Luka shook his head, refusing to listen to her any longer, "Sam, you were stabbed. You're going to be fine; it wasn't even that deep. I mean I know it took them a long time to find you but…"

"I was going to tell you," Sam felt another tear fall down her soft cheeks, "Luka, I…"

She was interrupted by the long, steady, high-pitched tone of the machine, though to Luka, it was the sound of death. Leaning over her, tears now falling so fast he hardly realized they were there; he placed a soft kiss on the top of her head, and closed her eyes. Then he sat back, and, like a baby, continued to cry. Soon, nurses and doctors were surrounding them, but there was nothing they could do. That day had been completely normal, Luka had had no idea it would be the day the love of his life died.

A/N: This chapter was so hard to write, you have no idea! I just killed off my fave character lol! But it had to be done… please continue to review, I'd love to hear what you think.


	5. A 2nd Chance?

**Heat**

**A/N:** This chapter was a secret even to my sister who begged me to tell her Sam's fate… I wrote two versions, each with different conclusions, but I decided on this one. Hope you like it ;) Sorry for concentrating mostly on Sam and Luka in this chapter and for the length...

Hehe, last chapter was called 28 Bodies, and I had 28 Replies all together :)

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, not a sausage. Except of course any characters you don't recognize.

-

Luka could smell the familiarly horrible cleaner usually associated with hospitals. He could hear the sharp beeping of machines and he could just about feel the arm draped across his back. The soft warmth of fluffy sheets pillowed his tired head, the seat beneath him barely stopping him from flopping onto the bed he was already leaning on. Tears pricked at his eyes all over again as he tried to work out how he could have possibly fell asleep after what had just happened in that very room.

He looked up; two soft brown eyes only just open meeting his. _I could have sworn I closed them, _he thought, beginning to get a little freaked out over the dead glare in Sam's almost closed eyes. It was then that he realized something was wrong with the scene around him. Instead of the long, lifeless tone he'd expected, the machined beeped steadily every few seconds. Two tired eyes opened just a little more.

"Luka?"

His head tilting up, Luka took a deep breath, trying to decide whether what he was seeing was real. Sam's partly burnt face had no expression, and her voice wasn't recognisable as her own, but sure enough, it was her. He noticed the smallest things, like her hair almost all being straight apart from one strand near the front, and the small speckle of blood that was on her forehead. Pulling himself from under her arm, which had been the only movement she could master, but had meant she was closer to him, Luka took hold of her hand and sat upright.

"You fell asleep," Sam spoke slowly and quietly from the smoke she'd inhaled, and the lack of energy she had flowing through her body, "Glad you're awake,"

Luka smiled, "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You looked peaceful," She swallowed.

Still shaken from what must have been a dream, he remembered what the last thing Sam had said before 'dying'. Maybe it had just been a really bad dream, or maybe it was some sort of sign. Either way, he found himself asking.

"Did you want to tell me something?" He gripped her hand tightly without even intending to, "You know you can tell me anything,"

Sam looked like she was thinking, her eyes closed. Slowly, they opened again and she blinked a few times, "Sorry, I needed to rest them,"

Nodding sympathetically, Luka pulled the stool round further so he was closer to her. He worked with people with various tubes and machines connected to them every day, but for some reason, this was different; weirder. Since she hadn't said anything, Luka guessed there was nothing he needed to hear. He was wrong.

"There is one thing,"

Intrigued but slightly scared, he nodded, looking directly into her eyes, seeing the pain deep within them. He wanted to make it all go away. It was so hard to see someone usually so strong being so weak. Noticing her hand move slowly towards the jug of water by the bed, Luka picked it up and poured her a glass. Gratefully, she swallowed as much as she could whilst he held it to her mouth.

"I was saying… one thing…" She paused, swallowing the last drop of water slowly, "I love you,"

Luka breathed out a sigh of relief, and leant over to hug Sam gently, "I love you too,"

-

"The police are currently looking into the cause of the fire, though they have confirmed that the source was the Family Room of the ER. Body count so far is 29, including 3 members of staff. People around the area have already started laying flowers and cards in the road for family, friends and even complete strangers who's lives were taken in today's fire. We'll be back with more news on this tragedy as soon as we get it,"

Dubenko watched as another family came to put down a bunch of tulips, tears streaming down their tired faces. He had nowhere to go. Anyway, somebody needed to stay around the hospital and listen out for news, and he'd decided that someone would be him. If anything important happened, he could phone Kerry or someone and tell them, and he'd arranged with Abby that she would phone if anything happened to Lucy, Susan, Frank or Sam.

Thinking about Abby, he was glad she had been helped out of the fire safely, and that she was okay now. Since he'd come to the hospital just a few months ago, he'd managed to get a friendship started between the intern and him, at least he hoped he had. She was brighter than she let everyone think.

"You're not home?" Pulled out of his thoughts, Dubenko looked up, seeing Kerry stood there.

"I thought you left to go to the other hospital?"

Kerry smiled, taking a seat on the bench next to him, the fire-fighters and police finally securing the hospital directly in her eyesight. Carefully putting her crutch on the ground, she shrugged, "They don't need me. After all, I only come in once or twice a month,"

"It's terrible isn't it?" He looked at the line of flowers and teddy bears again, "So many lives lost, just because someone felt the need to set the hospital on fire. Whoever it was, I hope he burns in hell,"

Taken aback by Dubenko's words, Kerry frowned. He was a smart guy, and for some reason she hadn't expected him to say something like that, though it was exactly what she had been thinking. She felt there was something she should do, but she hadn't a clue what. The troubled face of a teenage boy looked over at them sitting on the bench, and soon he was standing in front of them.

"Are you doctors?"

Slightly surprised at the question, both Kerry and Dubenko nodded. The boy, who had short blonde hair and a freckly face, reminded Kerry of someone, but she wasn't sure who, or even if she wasn't imagining it.

"My parents and my little sister died in that fire," He sniffed, holding back the tears, "My Grandparents where driving me over here when we heard it on the news. The firemen brought out their bodies just now. I… did you see them?"

Not understanding why he was telling them all this, Kerry's face softened, "What's your name?"

"Kyle… Kyle Janney,"

She vaguely remembered seeing a mother and her daughter come into the ER, and she was pretty sure they're last name was Janney. The boy looked at her, hope obviously in his eyes, "Did you see them? I just want to know what it was like…"

"They didn't feel a thing, I assure you," Dubenko jumped in,

Kyle shook his head, "_He _did. _He _must have,"

"Who did?"

His eyes less hopeful and more determined, Kyle brushed the tears away from his face, still shaking his head slightly. Anger was plastered across his face, "My father. My father killed my mom and Liliana,"

-

**A/N:** I know, I know, very confusing… it'll make sense later on I promise. Hope you liked the chapter, please continue to R&R, though I won't be holding back chapters if you don't ;)


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